The rest from work – an opportunity to read and write as much as possible.

The presents – buying someone the perfect gift and watching them open it and the expression on their face!

The films – I watch The Holiday every Christmas, I love Elf, my friend bought me The Family Stone one year when I was going through a dark depressive period so that has a special place in my heart. And the BF and I watch every Harry Potter film during the festive period. Every. Single. Year.

Also, I love the relaxing and spending time with friends and family – I’m less good at relaxing, I tend to want to use the time to do things like writing, but being with family means I can’t sit writing, so I enjoy their company as well.

The songs – Stay by East 17 is my favourite – they’re from just around the corner from where I live and it always puts a smile on my face.

The snow – here’s the thing about snow – you always want to be snowed in with life’s essentials (wifi, food, heat, TV) and not out. Imagine being snowed out, so you couldn’t get back home and were stuck at work or something. The horror the horror!

So, in summary, I my favourite part of Christmas is EVERYTHING. And I hope I’ve managed to show how much I love it in how I’ve told my new Christmas novella - A New Life For Christmas – the little details of what they do, the friendships forged and strengthened over this magical time of the year.

The Book:

A house exchange between two single men leads to a romantic new life for both of them.

Oliver and Kyle live thousands of miles apart, but each needs a break from his current life and love. Enter the Cloud B&B website, a wonderful new way to exchange homes for the holiday. They both muster their courage, and decide to visit another continent for Christmas.

In the UK, Oliver has been pining after his neighbour for far too long, living his comfortable but quiet life in a town in the New Forest. When his crush moves on in the worst possible way, Oliver is seduced by the chance to stay in fun-loving, sunny Miami.

In Miami, Kyle is a club owning workaholic, who suddenly discovers the man he lives with has been unfaithful. Yet again. As consolation, Kyle is tempted to see first hand the picturebook charm of the New Forest in winter.

Both of them find not just a new setting but a new romance. Oliver makes a big effort to shed his inhibitions and meets a musician, Mark, who plays in the Florida bars, and who may be just as cautious and polite as Oliver in making the first move.

And while Kyle’s trying to come to terms with England’s very different culture—and food!—he’s charmed by Oliver’s best friend Edward, who’s bold and sexy, but secretive.

Will Oliver take the leap of faith and encourage a lover who can and will give the commitment he deserves? And will Kyle find a man who can be loyal and also offer Kyle the family life he needs?

But perhaps more importantly—when Christmas is over, can a new life survive?

Hello, warm and festive greetings from me.I'm on RJ Scott's blog talking about my favourite Christmas films and the story behind why I wrote my new Christmas novella - A New Life For Christmas. I've copied it below too:

Merry Christmas to RJ and all her readers!

I love a Christmas film – the cheesier and more sentimental the better. Here are some of my favourites.

The Family Stone – I love the concept of Sarah Jessica Parker being thrown into a really liberal family with her less liberal views. It makes for comedy awkward gold. Plus, the chemistry between her and her boyfriend is so obviously wrong that it’s inevitable what happens in the end. Plus, Diane Keaton and a really cute gay couple. And tears and laughter. What more can you ask of a Christmas film?

I adore Love Actually too. I know it’s not Richard Curtis’s best film in many people’s opinions, but for me, it’s perfect. It combines so many linked narratives. It has plenty of very emotional moments – Emma Thompson and Hugh Grant are amazing. Plus Martine McCutcheon as the tea lady at the Prime Minister’s residence is so far fetched and OTT that I can’t but love it I’m afraid. Sorrynotsorry.

Meet Me in St Louis – Judy Garland, the song, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, a musical film, need I say more? Plus, it’s featured in the first Sex and the City Movie, so that’s a double score in my book.

Elf – Will Farrell’s wide-eyed innocence is enough to thaw the most icy of anti-Christmas hearts. It’s such a great fun ride of a film.

What made me write this Christmas novella?

Sometimes when you’re stuck in a situation the best thing you can do is change your environment. I wanted to put two men in unfamiliar surroundings and see what might happen.

Obviously, because I’m a romantic at heart and I love a happy ever after, it’s going to end well, but I can promise you there are plenty of bumps in the road before the men reach their happy Christmas and beyond.

Since I’ve been published in 2013 I’ve written a Christmas story. I love how this time of year can bring out the best in people. How it brings families together and how it’s a great excuse to switch off from work, embrace the cold of winter and stay inside and eat your body weight in food.

Hope everyone has a lovely Christmas and New Year and that you have plenty of time to enjoy new Christmas films, songs and books, as well as some old favourites.

Liam Livings xx

The Book

A house exchange between two single men leads to a romantic new life for both of them.

Oliver and Kyle live thousands of miles apart, but each needs a break from his current life and love. Enter the Cloud B&B website, a wonderful new way to exchange homes for the holiday. They both muster their courage, and decide to visit another continent for Christmas.

In the UK, Oliver has been pining after his neighbour for far too long, living his comfortable but quiet life in a town in the New Forest. When his crush moves on in the worst possible way, Oliver is seduced by the chance to stay in fun-loving, sunny Miami.

In Miami, Kyle is a club owning workaholic, who suddenly discovers the man he lives with has been unfaithful. Yet again. As consolation, Kyle is tempted to see first hand the picturebook charm of the New Forest in winter.

Both of them find not just a new setting but a new romance. Oliver makes a big effort to shed his inhibitions and meets a musician, Mark, who plays in the Florida bars, and who may be just as cautious and polite as Oliver in making the first move.

And while Kyle’s trying to come to terms with England’s very different culture—and food!—he’s charmed by Oliver’s best friend Edward, who’s bold and sexy, but secretive.

Will Oliver take the leap of faith and encourage a lover who can and will give the commitment he deserves? And will Kyle find a man who can be loyal and also offer Kyle the family life he needs?

But perhaps more importantly—when Christmas is over, can a new life survive?

I'm pleased to share this 5 fuzzy bear / * review for Serendipity Series from Bike Book Reviews. It's also copied below:

Obstacles are placed in our way to see if what we really want is really worth fighting for.

THIS QUOTE IS PERFECT TO THESE THREE BOOKS! I AM GONNA DO A COMBINED REVIEW OF ALL THREE BOOKS BECAUSE YOU JUST HAVE TO READ THEM ALL!! :)

Christian and David like each other, a lot, but with ex boyfriends, and other things in the mix are they meant to be? Book 1 is amazing and gives you the lay of the land on this couple and what is to come!

Book 2 deals with the fact that these two men feel connected but have decided to wait to be intimate, will they feel that this relationship is too much trouble? Or will they wonder what they have been waiting for?

Book 3 is my fave of this series as it ties up loose ends so to speak, we get to see the guys at Christian's family's house, and though there are awkward moments, David just may prove he is in it for the long haul! You guys must read this whole series, it is amazing!!

HAHA I HAD TO DO THE FUZZY BEAR RATING IN HONOR OF A REALLY CUTE NICKNAME! BELOW IS THE TOUR INFO AS WELL AS AN AUTHOR BIO AND SOCIAL LINKS: CHECK IT OUT!

These story’s were really good. While they are not a long story’s they are really well written and keeps you wanting to read the whole series. I really loved how the friends kid of help this couple get together and while family is a different situation it works out in the end.

I'm doing a happy dance at these two lovely 4 star reviews for my Serendipity Series from Bayou Book Junkie. Here's Heather's review:

The Serendipity series is three novellas and must all be read in the appropriate order. Each novella starts where the last one left off and follows the development of a relationship between Christian and David.

In Christmas Serendipity, Christian and David join mutual friends to have Christmas together after break-ups, job losses, and family disappointment. This novella takes place over the holiday weekend and focuses on how the four friends pull together to create a holiday gathering taking parts of everyone's family traditions. Christian and David are interested in the other, but they've both just come out of a relationship and don't want to rush into anything. It is necessary to read the next book.

Book 2, Serendipity Develops focuses on the development of Christian and David's relationship after the holidays. It really shows a new relationship and how two people have to work through differences, different expectations and interactions with family. It is necessary to read the next book in the series to get the ending.

Book 3, The Next Christmas is a year after Book 1, where they both spend their first Christmas together as a couple and has the two men celebrating in a completely different way than the year before. This novella wraps up the entire relationship and gives the reader the HEA for Christian and David.

Each of these stories was a short read and flowed nicely. If I had had to read one book and wait for another one, I would have hated this series, but because you can just go from one to next, it doesn't interrupt the flow at all. Overall, a sweet short series.

Rating: 4 stars overall!

Here's Rita's review:

4 Stars!

A very English tale of 'let's just get on with it', followed by a lovely start of a HEA.

As a British reader getting and intro to this author, I ended up rather satisfied. This is a tale set in good old England, with people who felt real, a situation that felt real and kind of sadly a little expected/'reasonable in their eyes' for that generation (I'll expand shortly), with the special bond that a mum and son have and which ultimately ends in the leads starting their HEA.

Did I want more? YES, hence the 4* rating rather than a 5* one, as this tale glossed a little over one issue that raised a fairly big head and for me, some alarm bells, and also, it needed that little bit of icing on the cake that was no doubt going to be brought out at some point. Hint. Hint.

So, it's a tale set around Xmas, starting 12 months previously, with our guys both in a bad place for very different reasons, and which ends the following Xmas with all on the way to being sweetness and light for them. In between, there's a bit of a 'family trial', one which unfortunately I could see happening because of the mindset of many people of my mum's generation, even in 2016, but which eventually got talked about, got reasoned out and ended up being accepted for what it was, what it meant to those who counted. Human decency and love prevailed. The tale had a lot of real life and a lot of realism in it, but nothing too heavy was made out of it - it made me wonder if LL had perhaps witnessed something similar that had provided the inspiration for this tale.

There was brief mention of one character's 'fantasies/daydreams'? getting a little out of hand, which resulted in tons of tall tales being told, and a situation that should perhaps have warranted a more serious discussion than there ended up being. I am pretty certain that it was a mental health issue that came up, perhaps caused by stress/want/sadness/desperation, and yes, the character in question got some help for it, but this was seemingly done off-page and rather too quickly. I happen to be married to a mental health nurse in the UK and this portrayal didn't quite seem right - because of the severity of mental illness and the stigma that we're trying to disassociate from it, I kind of feel that, 'if you're going to go there with it, you need to go there properly'. But, in the overall series, that's a small-ish niggle, and it didn't stop me from enjoying the tale.

As I mentioned, the tale ends with the leads about to embark on the rest of their lives together, and I couldn't help but hope for another little scene showing a certain even happier event - perhaps the author might consider offering that as a short some day?

ARC courtesy of the author and Bayou Book Junkie, for my reading pleasure.

I'm very happy to share a lovely review from Book Lovers 4 Ever for the above Christmas novella series.

Here are the reviews also copied below:

Reviews:Christmas Serendipity- A quick, sweet read. Two down on their luck men meet through mutual friends and sparks fly instantly. Spending Christmas with friends instead of his family is not what Christian wanted but when he meets David the days starts to brighten. This is a very British Christmas novella with lots of food in it that I've never heard of but still a sweet story.

Serendipity Develops- Another short, sweet novella in this series. Christian and David are still together but hearing Christian talk they are moving faster and further than anyone thought possible in such a short amount of time. With the help of friends and family, David is able to reel Christian in and ground him to the here and now.

The Next Christmas- Christian and David have made it a full year and now Christian is getting what he truly wants, he's bringing the man he loves home for the holidays. David is spending the Christmas holiday with Christian and his parents but both of them have not fully accepted that Christian and David are a couple. With the help of friends, family and a few broke rules their love finally outshines prejudice.

I'm pleased to announce that my Christmas novella will be out later in December. I'm so pleased with the cover, from Meredith Russell and the blurb is below. It will be my first independently published story, so that's also very exciting / nerve-wracking too!

A New Life For Christmas by Liam Livings

A house exchange between two single men leads to a romantic new life for both of them.Oliver and Kyle live thousands of miles apart, but each needs a break from his current life and love. Enter the Cloud B&B website, a wonderful new way to exchange homes for the holiday. They both muster their courage, and decide to visit another continent for Christmas.

In the UK, Oliver has been pining after his neighbour for far too long, living his comfortable but quiet life in a town in the New Forest. When his crush moves on in the worst possible way, Oliver is seduced by the chance to stay in fun-loving, sunny Miami.In Miami, Kyle is a club owning workaholic, who suddenly discovers the man he lives with has been unfaithful. Yet again. As consolation, Kyle is tempted to see first hand the picturebook charm of the New Forest in winter.Both of them find not just a new setting but a new romance. Oliver makes a big effort to shed his inhibitions and meets a musician, Mark, who plays in the Florida bars, and who may be just as cautious and polite as Oliver in making the first move.And while Kyle’s trying to come to terms with England’s very different culture—and food!—he’s charmed by Oliver’s best friend Edward, who’s bold and sexy, but secretive.Will Oliver take the leap of faith and encourage a lover who can and will give the commitment he deserves? And will Kyle find a man who can be loyal and also offer Kyle the family life he needs?But perhaps more importantly—when Christmas is over, can a new life survive?